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Bob Haase's Another Can Of Worms

01-Aug-2013

Communications Problems

It seems like the more methods we have to communicate, the more difficult it becomes. Even trying to find someone's telephone number is becoming more difficult. When everyone had a land line, you could look in a telephone book and find their phone number unless it was unlisted. Phone search engines on the internet made it even easier in that you could look up the phone number by first and last name or by a number of other methods such as reverse look up and find out who the person was by just searching by the phone number. When more and more people started dropping their land lines and just using cell phones, the cell phone numbers were no longer listed in phone books or internet search engines. The cell phones made it easier to communicate from any location, but more difficult to find a phone number to call someone.

I still use that old fashion method of communicating by actually talking to someone on the phone rather than texting. Many younger people prefer to text rather than talk and I still think it is easier to say something than key in the message using a small keypad on the phone. Then came the smart phone and I think the reason they call it a smart phone is not because the phone is smart, but rather it takes someone smarter than me to figure out how to use all the features. I have this uneasy feeling that by the time I really figure it out, they will have come up with a newer technology and I will have to start learning all over again!

E-mail is another great way to communicate, but again you need to know the other persons E-mail address to contact them. If you think finding a person's phone number can be difficult, try finding the person's correct E-mail address. What makes it more difficult is when the E-mail address is case sensitive and the person writing down the E-mail address for you put everything in all caps when their E-mail is all lower case. The other problem comes in with so many people changing providers which changes the person's E-mail address. When you try to get peoples E-mail address for club memberships lists you find out that there is a lot of people that still do not have an E-mail address or check their E-mails frequently.

Now throw in all the other social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and others and that makes it even more complicated. The problem with so many sources of communications is that you almost have to use all of them and check them every day in order to make it effective or end up missing messages.

Another source of communications frustrations for me is the automated phone answering systems. Do you remember the time when you called your doctor's office, a municipal or governmental office, or some other service and actually talked to someone? Now tell me that communications is getting better!